Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,704 describes and claims a self-sealing closure for a drinking vessel with a receptacle. The closure contains a lid having a depressed area and at least one orifice within the depressed area, a shutter matching said orifice, means for resiliently holding the shutter against the orifice, and means rotating within a plane perpendicular to the central axis of said receptacle and lid for pushing the shutter away from the orifice. In the device of the patent, the shutter is Normally in a closed position, thereby preventing the passage of fluid through it. The shutter can be moved to the open position by the application of an external force, which need not exceed about 2.8 ounces, applied along the perimeter of the shutter. When the external force ceases to be applied to the shutter, the shutter spontaneously returns to its closed position.
The shutter mechanism of the closure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,704 is secured by a tight press fit to the top area of the receptacle. It is relatively difficult to manufacture the closure with this tight press fit. Furthermore, a user of the self-sealing closure could not readily disassemble the closure in order to clean it.
It is an object of this invention to provide a self-sealing closure which allows a user to readily disassemble the closure in order to clean it.
It is another object of this invention to provide a self- sealing closure which, after it has been disassembled, can readily be reassembled.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a self-sealing closure with improved sealing properties.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a self-sealing closure which can be readily and economically manufactured.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a receptacle which is specially adapted to be attached to said self-sealing closure.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a sealed receptacle comprised of a self-sealing closure wherein the degree of movement of the closure is limited.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a self-sealing closure for drinking receptacles, comprised of (1) a detachable lid covering the receptacle and having a depressed top area and at least one orifice within the depressed top area, (2) a shutter matching the orifice, (3) means for resiliently holding the shutter against the orifice, (4) means for preventing movement of the shutter in a plane perpendicular to the central axis of said receptacle, and (5) means for moving the shutter in a plane parallel to the central axis of said receptacle.